Nowhere to Turn But Home
by Cera3
Summary: you will have to click on the title to get a full summary. Hermione learns about her mother's past and on the way learns about love and betrayal. This is a pilot, if ppl like it, then will become a RW/HG romance. Will probably up the rating as it progress
1. Chapter 1: Hermione learns

**_DISCLAIMER: (I'm only doing this once, so read up): I DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER AND HIS UNIVERSE. I am not making any money from this either, but had I been, I would have spent it all on Harry Potter memorabilia with it, because heaven knows I'm broke because of my Harry Potter shrine._**

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**_A/N: I know. I should finish up Only thru a mother's love. But this plot decided to pop up in my head. I tried 2 c if I could incorporate it into my other story, but realized that the beginning would have to be different and the relationships would be totally different. No, this is not a time travel story. Well, happy reading! Oh, i've been very . . . traitorous. It seems this story is a ship for HG/RW. I just love Hermione, and who she ends up with (besides Harry) doesn't matter to me. I will probably write a HG/DM story later when I come up with a plot for that one. _**

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**_Nowhere To Turn But Home_****__**

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**_Summary: After Hermione's father dies, her mother reveals her shady past. Hermione's mother isn't a muggle like she thought she was, and apparently Helen didn't know that either. Something is going on during Hermione's last year at Hogwarts, especially with two deadly assassins who have escaped from Azkaban. She will never look at Sirius, Snape, or McGonagall the same again. And while the secrets of her mother's generation is being uncovered, love blooms in the most unsuspecting places and time. _******

**Chapter 1: Hermione learns**

_Clunk._ The weathered couple looked at each other across two sets of bars and nodded. The middle-age man (for a wizard) looked at his wife and waited. It was almost time. He suddenly felt cold. _The first dementor was shuffling by._ He waited for the second. He was not disappointed when the second trudged past 15 minutes later. The dementors were anxious since the fall of Voldemort, and they have been careless recently to other prisoners as they guarded the captured Death-Eaters like a hawk. 

He waited another 30 seconds. Time was precious and cannot be wasted. Every second counted and if they failed, well, he didn't want to dwell on that.

He signaled his wife to start. He stared at her with love even after 45 years of marriage and hardship, but now was not the time to get nostalgic. 

Revenge will be sweet and served cold, colder than the feel of a dementor near him. He had secretly hoped that the bastard had been caught with the Death-Eater, but he was too cunning.

Being reminded of that monster, he waited patiently for his wife to complete her transformation. It was after all, very hard to accomplish as not only the wards of Azkabans denied it, but also the thing his wife would be turning into would also be very hard since it has been 18 years they have been in here. For a crime they didn't commit.

Two minutes passed but it was worth it as he saw his wife emerged from her cell and went into his. She pecked his cheek adoringly, but now was not the time for a physical reunion although it had been too long since he was able to touch her.

It was his turn to transform. He did it easily. His body became hairy and grew six extra legs. With his wife beside him, he climbed the cell, towards the ceiling. They made it out without any trouble, since who would look up for escaping prisoners.

It was then her turn to help him. She clutched him in her claws, and they flew away. Away from the torment. 

Ten years of planning paid off as the prison isle became but a dot on the horizon. He was heading home. But a detour was necessary. They were one step closer to achieving their goal. The first stop was to find his daughter and tell her he was sorry.

(a quick A/N: more about this will be explained if you guys like this story and I decide to continue it)

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"Hermione! Dinner, dear!" broke her out of her revere. She glanced down at the book she had been staring at for the past hour, and the words squirm like snakes. With a heavy sigh, she closed the book with a thud and pushed out her chair to stand up.

She had been daydreaming again. About a certain red haired boy . A quick glance at the muggle clock showed it was indeed 8 o'clock (A/N: They eat late in England don't they?) She instinctively massaged her temples as she went into the bathroom adjacent to her room. Being an only child did have its quirks. But then again, it was lonely a lot of the time.

The cold water she splashed onto her face washed away the wearily look but did nothing to clean away the feelings she had been suffering from.

She should be elated. Ecstatic. She had become an animagus only 2 weeks ago, but the excitement had finally ceased, and the powerful yearning in her heart remained.

She had transformed into a mere hummingbird. Granted that it was the only bird to be able to fly in all direction, but what could a hummingbird do? Be Pretty? That wouldn't help the wizard world.

Hermione made her way down the stairs and dumped herself into her usual seat. The house was silent, in mourning. She tried to put on a happy front, but her mother picked up her mood and questioned her on it.

"I just miss Hogwarts, that's all mum," Hermione said, giving a faint smile to indicate that she did not wish to continue.

Her mother softened and looked at her daughter sadly. "I miss him too honey."

Hermione started. Her mother read her like a book. Tears started streaming down her face, and she frantically wiped them away. Her mother just went around and hugged Hermione until she finished crying.

"Thanks mum, I needed that," Hermione said muffly into her mother's shoulder. "I always thought that Dad would be here forever you know? And now, he's gone."

"Look at me, baby. Your father will always be with you. Just look deep inside yourself and you can hear him. Alright?" Helen said, searching Hermione's face. After Hermione nodded, they finished up dinner and together, washed the dishes.

That night, Hermione tossed and turn in bed. Tangled in the blanket, she conceded that she needed to talk with her mother again. Hermione got out of bed and tiptoed to the master bedroom. She opened the door a crack and peeked in.

Helen was silently crying as she was going through pictures and letters. She looked up when she felt someone looking at her. Helen gave a half-smile and beckoned Hermione in. For the rest of the early morning, they laughed and cried together as they sorted through the items. 

It was after reading a letter that Helen broke down at 2:23 am. Hermione comforted her mother as best as she could and the letter fluttered down where Hermione could make out some of the words.

_Dove,_

_. . . I was lonely, but you rescu . . . I don't care that Hermione isn't mine . . . _

_. . . I guess what I am trying to say, is that I lov . . . Will you mar . . . _

_Forever Yours,_

_Matthew Granger_

Hermione froze. She reached down and reread the letter, reading everything, but she concentrated on those words that she never envisioned before. _I don't care that Hermione isn't mine._

"Mum? What does he mean?"  Hermione prodded her mother and pointed out to the line.

Her mother unclenched her hands around the handkerchief and wiped away her tears. After she stopped hiccuping, she grabbed her daughter's hands and made small circles in it. She was trying to find the words to explain her secret.

"I was 5 months pregnant with you when I woke up in a hospital with no clue as to how I got there, or more importantly, who I was. The doctors said I had amnesia and that my memory would return to me, but since then, it hasn't. I spent the last term of pregnancy in a shelter and finally, when you were a few months old, I was brave enough to venture out.

Since I have been around doctors for that previous year, I decided to work for doctors. I was pointed out to your dad, Matthew Granger, who was a prominent dentists and was willing to offer a job to a girl. Don't think it was easy, because those first couple of years was pure torture. We got married because it would have looked bad for Matt if I was living with him and we weren't married. I just didn't realize that he truly loved me later. 

I thought that this letter was just to show the public that our relationship was _genuine_. I could never say that I loved him like the way he loved me. I don't know why, well, I guess I might have an inkling. Anyways, I was amazed that he didn't divorce me right away. He just said that his love was enough for both of us. Don't get me wrong, I love your dad, but I love your dad more as a father rather than a husband. Besides, he was almost 30 years my senior. 

The only thing I regret is being unable to give him a child despite his protestation that you were enough. We never . . . we never made love because I just couldn't. So we would just sleep and rest together, him hugging me each night was enough for him.

I had to relearn a lot of things to get my GED, and with help from Matthew, I was able to go to college and dentistry school. it was hard, but it was worth it." Helen spoke softly.

"I'm sorry that I hadn't told you this before, but Matt said that he didn't want you to try to look for my past, because believe me we tried. But it was useless. And he didn't want you burdened with something like that. I guess he was afraid that you might have let it slipped when you were mad at him or me."

Hermione took in everything and finally said, "It's okay mum. I understand."

Her mother looked grateful and a silent teardrop ran down her face. Helen looked pensively at Hermione then got up. She went to a corner in the room, pushed the chair out and crawled under. A minute later, she emerged with a shoebox.

Hermione waited patiently. Helen delicately opened the box, rather hesitantly, and pulled out the top item. It was a robe of dark blue that had a few stains and tears on it.

"This was what I was wearing when someone rescued me. Looks a bit like those robes the wizards and witches wear doesn't?" Helen said, then put it aside.

Next, she pulled out a feather. It was white. "This is a dove's feather. They found a few of it on the robe, but this was the only one that was fully a feather. That's why your father called me dove."

Lastly, she pulled out a diamond ring. It had a D and a P with an intricate design on it around the silver ring and the diamond was cleverly cut with two layers, the first was designed to be a dove, the outer layer designed to be a big dog. The two complimented each other very nicely. It sparkled in the light.

"This was probably why your father and I didn't consummate our marriage." Helen said sadly. Hermione felt bad. For her mother to have found true love but lost it. She, herself, was probably the outcome of their love. Hermione went to comfort her mother again, and they stayed that way until both fell asleep. 

When Hermione woke up, she had returned to her bed somehow. Her mother was a very slight and tiny woman, and Hermione was surprised that she was able to assist her to her room. She stretched and yawned, rubbing her eyes.

Hermione was feeling a lot better now, despite finding out that she was not her father's biological daughter. She guess that it had to be true, since she didn't really look like her father. But then again, she didn't really look like her mother that much. The only thing she could have inherited from her mother would be her eyebrows and fingers and feet. Oh, and her brains. But that was it. Hermione's hair was brown as compared to Helen's silky black hair that shined softly around her pale skin. Hermione was envious of her mother's hair and use to be resentful of her own set of bushy brown, ordinary hair. But now, thanks to potions, Hermione's hair was also silky and curly rather than frizzy. Hermione's coloring was less Greek and more Briton. Hermione's eyes were a vague hazel color as if it couldn't decide what color it wanted to be. Helen's eyes were dark brown that appeared black most of the time.

Next, Hermione blushed as she thought about it. Hermione was a little more endowed in the chest area than her mother, but then again, it was probably due to her height. Her mother's lips was a little less full than Hermione's, but it was hard to tell since Helen was always smiling. Hermione acquiesced that she probably got her left cheek dimple from her mother while the right cheek dimple was probably from her real father.

Then again, when you go looking for it, you'll probably find something. If she had to relate herself to her now deceased father, she would probably say she was a lost cause for well, lost cause. Like the house-elves and Crookshank just like her father had taken in her mother 18 years ago.

Hermione thought about the robes again and a thought struck her. _Could Helen be a witch that was perhaps kidnapped then oblivated or something to that effect?_ Since her mother was 35, she was probably in her last year of school or just graduated when she lost her memory. That meant that a few years before would have at least shown a younger version of her mother.Hermione resolved to at least look through the annuals 20 years prior to see if she could find her mother. It was very slim, but at least it was a better lead than nothing. 

_Maybe, just maybe, she could find out who her father was also_ a tiny voice in her head said.

It was a beautiful sunny day outside, and since Hermione's spirit was lifting, she decided to transform and enjoy the outdoors.

She went to open her window and wrote a note to her mother in case she would be wondering about her. 5 minutes later, Hermione was flying around. The quick beating balanced the increased body heat with the wind. Hermione flew a few miles away, and noticed that the sun was starting to set and decided to return. Besides, even in her bird form she was hungry.

It was nightfall when she returned home, and as she was flying past the vanity, she noticed a glow. Hermione returned to the mirror and gasped.

**End Chapter 1: Hermione learns**

**A/N: yeah, the first chapters done. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW so that I can become even more inspired to write. This is just a pilot, and if you guess like it, I'll be updating in the near future. I will wait for a certain number of reviews, doesn't matter if it's a nice or bad comment, and then start post the next chapter. If this interest anyone to become a beta, I'll be very appreciative.**

**Love**

**~Cera~**


	2. Faery and Dream

**A/N: Hey, I'm getting very frustrated with my computer. It had froze 4ever when I was in the middle of writing the second chapter, and when I had turned the comp. back on, the stupid file got erased. Now, I have to remember what I wrote about. However, on a lighter note, THANKS 2 EVERY1 WHO REVIEWED. PS, I have raised this to rated R because of Language and later scary and adult scenes.**

**Chapter 2: Faery and Dream**

It was nightfall when she returned home, and as she was flying past the vanity, she noticed a soft glow. Hermione returned to the mirror and gasped.

There, in front of her eyes where a forest green hummingbird should be floated a picture-perfect faery. The wings were beating so fast, they seem invisible. As Hermione flew in closer, it seemed as if she floated over. 

Hermione looked at her skin, and saw it looked as if she was dipped in a gold melt. She sparkled radiantly. She was wearing a flower costume like Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. Her cheeks were rosy in color from her recent excursion, and if she looked closely, she could swear her eyes were lilac. However, the lighting was too poor to know for sure. 

Hermione tried to remember everything she could from her studies on Faeries, and tested out her powers. Her hands tingle in anticipation. She certainly didn't need a wand to do magic. She could perform magic with a point of a finger similar to that of an elf snapping his fingers.

Concentration on the ebony brush sitting on the table, a shot of gold connected her finger and the brush, and soon it became clean of any stray hair. The next task, to see if she could walk through walls. Hermione tentative reached her hands out to touch the mirror, and immediately found herself in the bathroom, which was on the other side. Satisfied, she returned to her room in such an excited state, she failed to notice Crookshank slowly gaining on her form. 

Before she knew it, Crookshank had pounced on her and she immediately merged with him. When she extracted herself, she knew more about him than she needed. Mrs. Norris must be very satisfied by the looks of it.

Anyway, she transfigured back to her human form and admonished him. She then turned back and force to make sure he got it into his head that she was in fact the faery. When he got bored and slunk away, Hermione went in search of her mother. 

She hovered above her sleeping face in the bedroom, looking so peaceful. Hermione reached out a hand to brush away a riotous bang, when she felt herself getting pulled in. A moment of shock gave way to disorientation which gave way to darkness.

Hermione thought she was consciously unconscious, but then noticed a young woman crying her eyes out. She noticed it was her mother, Helen, as a teenager. A noise in the background suddenly lit the setting. It was a living room. Helen was sitting on the couch, hugging a black stuff dog.

_"Please daddy. I'll do anything! Don't hurt him," _Helen pleaded to the man. He was tall and huge. His black, obsidian eyes and gruffy nature could easily pass as a mountain man. He didn't look a bit as gentle as Hagrid though.

_"He'll pay for knocking you up."_ He replied. His voice cold and deep as the glaciers of the Artic.

_"He . . . He doesn't know. Please daddy. I love him."_ She wailed, getting up.

_"I'm doing this for your own good. IMPERIO"_ He shouted, the house seemed to shake in fear. Hermione herself was frightened.

The scene started faded, and the next replacing it was one that was familiar to Hermione. It was the Gryffindor Common Room. However, Hermione could easily deduce it to be the late 70s because of the decor. All black. That time had been in mourning for the previously deceased Headmaster Dippety. 2 years of mourning to be sure. He had been headmaster for almost 100 years being over 200 years old.

Hermione saw Helen gather her valises at the bottom of the stairs, dictating in a monotonous tone to the house-elf Tobie to make sure everything gets collected.

Once again, they were interrupted. It was the notorious Sirius Black.

_"Why are you leaving like this?"_ Sirius asked, pain evident in his eyes. _"Please. Tell me."_

_"Screw You, Mother fucking Black. We're OVER. "_ Helen said, almost passionately.

Sirius reached out a hand and stopped her, but she wrenched it out of his and continued on, oblivious to him. 

_"Why?" Sirius asked desperately._

_"If you don't fucking know, then you really are stupid. Fuck off,"_ Mercy said. As she left, a picture floated to the ground, and Sirius was shocked. There, on the ground, was a picture of him with a steamy photo of him with Shantal. 

He never noticed the glazed over look of her eyes. He retracted inside himself and suffered.

Hermione almost wept when she saw the next memory nightmare. Her mother was lying comatose on a hospital bed, stitches and casts covered her tiny body and had a respirator to breath for her. Hermione's heart broke. She noticed a clipboard at the end of the bed and went to inspect the chart.

**_Name:_**_ Mercy Snape** Age:** 17** . . . Allergies:** none, but approx. 19 weeks pregnant. **Injuries:** 3 broken rips, all 4 limbs fractured or broken. Definitely bruised. Jaw dislocated. Right Cheek Shattered. Broken collar bone. **Emergency Contact**: Stephen and Meryll Snape, relationship: parents. **Comments**: Mother has visited a couple of times, but father hasn't. Mercy has been rejecting most of the blood type except for O-. Reason for injuries: parents claim of an abusive boyfriend. I'm not sure I believe that since an abusive boyfriend is very possessive, and none has come to visit her except her mother._

Hermione stopped reading when the door was burst open, and in came "daddy." He was a formidable sight, sightly more pale than the last time she saw him. The curse must have taken a toll on him. But then again, she didn't know how long between the memories were.

It therefore came as a total surprise when she heard him whisper, _"I'm sorry dove. I never meant for this to happen. I couldn't control myself. Well, ha, now I'm going to pay for my sins, although I will be put away for a crime I didn't commit, I will stay in Azkaban to pay for my sins against you. And when I feel I have served my time, I will come back for you. I love you, dove. Never doubt that . . . OBLIVIATE."_

Hermione heard an audible gasp out of her mother, but she settled right back into her state of stillness. Stephen Snape went to the end of the bed and muttered a few spells. Hermione could see the words changing on the tag as well as the chart on the clipboard. Mercy Snape's existence was replaced by a Helen Doe with unknown rescuer and source.

He pointed it at the door and muttered the Obliviate spell on the door before turning his attention back to Mercy. Hermione noticed a single stream of tears rolling down his face. He shakily lifted his hands again and forcefully said, _"Enervate."_

As the alarm sounded when Mercy's heartbeat increased and her eyes fluttered open, Stephen Snape had already disappeared. When the first doctor entered, Hermione was surprised to see her muggle Half-brother, Reagan Granger. He must have still been an intern. It was always a familiar joke inside the family that her mother was younger than her son.

As all the doctors and nurses entered, their eyes glazed over for a few seconds, and then nothing out of the ordinary as a miracle occurred. Hermione saw fuzzily saw the respirator being removed, and soon, she was staring into the eyes of her mother. Hermione shook herself to make sure she was back in the real world. She transformed and fell on her mother.

"Hermione, what were you doing?" Her mother asked.

"I was pulled into your memories. I think," Hermione said, still confused.

"Oh, and what did you find out? I never remember my dreams." Her mother said sadly.

"Er--your 30th birthday party. The first time you got drunk. But then it became so woozy that I had to leave again, and here I am!"

"Oh, okay. I guess we better start breakfast before anything else. I'm famish!" Her mother said, cheering up. They fell into amiable silence as the made dinner and ate it. While they were washing the dishes together, that Hermione brought up the subject.

"Please mum. I'm worried about you. You're always tired. I want you to move to Hogsmeade. If its any consolation, I'm sure Harry's Godfather, _Sirius Black_, could get you a place next to his. I know you've never met him, but he is really nice and funny. He'll cheer you right up. He's a professor again at Hogwarts after his disastrous start when he just graduated from Hogwarts. Funny really. Just up and quite after working there for three years. Anyways, he's back, and better than ever, and that's a lot considering one was in prison for 13 years." Hermione chuckled.

Her mother frowned, as if that note struck a chord inside her. She then shrugged her shoulders and they quit the kitchen.

By the time the two retired to their respective bedroom, Hermione had convinced her mother to sell their house and move to Hogsmeade.

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_Knock._ A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard, and the door opened to show a middle-aged chubby man cross looking at the couple who dared interrupt him when he was eating. Grease was all over his mouth, but years of training kept them from recoiling at the nauseating site.

"Can we speak to Helen Granger?" the woman asked nicely, although her voice was very scrappy, as if not used enough or just recovered from sickness.

"Don't know any Helen Granger, but the Grangers sold this house when the old timer died. Are you MI-6? Hey! You can't just entire my house--" the man voice was cut off as the man of the couple raised his wand and performed the body bind charm.

Two hours later and endless searching spells, they came up empty. Doing the usual rites in dealing with muggles, they left and headed back to their hiding place, hand in hand, both wearing weary looks upon their face.

"We'll find her. I promise." The man spoke quietly to his wife.

"I know . . . Stephen."

"I--I want to pay a visit to him. Please, Stephen?" the woman asked, looking at her husband desperately. "At least for a couple of minutes?"

"I'm not sure that's safe Meryll. All of the wizarding world probably knows by now of our escape. How are we suppose to be undetected without glamours?"

The thought on the problem for a while, until Meryll stopped suddenly, and smile spreading across her still youthful features. "Muggle permanent glamour: plastic surgery."

He nodded, and they apparated to their cove to retrieve their money. By the following week, both had receive new faces that almost made them indistinguishable from each other. Color contact lens' grace their eyes as well as a permanent dye of brown in their hair. Stephen's nose was visibly reduced to a more pleasant one, while Meryll's skin was rid of wrinkles. Both she and her husband were made to look like they were in their late thirties. Satisfied with their transformation, they obliviated their surgeons, and made their way back to wizarding world.

Stepping into Diagon alley, they were nervous of being discovered. Aurors were lurking around the entrance, and randomly deglamouring people, especially woman. Meryll, herself was hit, but since her appearance had been altered the muggle way, no spell was able to turn her features back to their original structure.

They passed security easily. Their acute hearing allowed them to learn more about the rumors surrounding their escape. Phrases like _" . . . Snapes were giving the DK when they tried to escape. . . ", " . . . Moby Dick ate them when they tried to escape . . . ", "Then why are Aurors here then? . . . Because Harry Potter is, silly. They still haven't caught Shantal Hemmings . . . "_

At the mention of that name, Stephen stiffened, and his arms tightened around his wife's waist. They shared a guilty look, and continued on their mission. At least the general public thought they were dead. The dementors were probably too scared that they had lost two convicts that they made up some excuse.

They were exchanging their muggle money at Gringotts when Meryll just happened to look at the figure coming off the trolley. It was a younger version of James Potter. Meryll nudged him and pointed her chin in the same direction. She mouth _Harry Potter_, but when she looked over again, she almost went into shock. There, beside the young man, was a very alive Sirius Black. 

There was a sadness that surrounded him, although he looked happy. Especially when talking to the teen. Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban a couple of months after them, and consequently, they got their escape plan from him when Stephen noticed a black dog stalking past his cell. The dog had been able to smell him, but refrained from making noise as to arouse his presence. He did, however, glean his teeth. That was 4 years ago, and Stephen doubted that Sirius still remembered.

As if sensing someone looking at him, Sirius glanced up and around him. The Snapes returned their attention back to the goblin, who was annoyed at having been kept waiting.

"400 galleons, 23 sickles, 13 knuts. NEXT!"

They exited Gringotts moments after Sirius and Harry, and at a fairly distant space to make them unsuspicious. The couple saw the teen turn towards the Quidditch store, and ran up to a red head boy taller and bigger than him. The awkwardly hugged each other and laugh. They startled and turned around. Mischief returned to their faces as they each hugged the person that the Snape couldn't see. By the looks of it, it was probably a girl.

A few minutes later, Sirius made his way to the trio, and the four walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

"Hey! I've never seen ya here before? Muggles are ye?" a gnarled old witch asked them when they entered the apothecary.

"No, we're Grecians witch and wizards from Greece. But we decided to take our daughters to Hogwarts instead of Pnyx. Might i inquire? I heard that Severus Snape is a great Potion's Master. Do you know where his office is at?" Meryll asked the old witch.

The attempts of an old witch to laugh sounded like a dying cat. "Yea. His office is at Hogwarts. Teaches there, he does. Great customer. Was in here the otha day to pick up some supplies. Now, whatcha want?"

Stephen and Meryll bought something trivial to appease the old witch, then discreetly obliviated her, and then left. Both knew what their next destination was.

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"Mum! I told you before, the house isn't going to collapse because the inside is bigger than the outside. It's _magic_." Hermione told her mom for the umpteenth time as they were looking for a house.

Hermione finally collapsed onto the nearest chair and gave her mother an exasperated look.

"But this cottage has 5 rooms! The cottage didn't look like it had enough for a kitchen and a bedroom on the outside, but it _has 5 rooms_" Her mother said, still in awe. "And look, it has the prettiest garden yet. I think I want this place."

"Finally!" Hermione exhaled. "I don't want to live in the Leaky Cauldron for another night." By nightfall, they had settled into their cottage, all the paperwork and monetary exchange were finished.

Hermione thought back on the recent weeks. Her father's death was truly a mixed blessing. It had brought her mother closer, but only made things more confusing as Hermione would sometimes infiltrate Mercy's mind. Some of the memories were mundane like her mother being a little girl playing on her broom as her brother yelled at her from his window.

Other times, well, lets just say they were so intimate, that Hermine had to cover her ears and closed her eyes to block out the scene. They were scenes of her mother doing the dirty with none other than Sirius Black. In his quarters, apparently. Hermione would uncover her ears to listen to the after-coital conversation, but kept her back to the couple. Hermione learned that Sirius was very worried about his relationship with a student, her mum, but could nonetheless stay away from her. Hermione always smiled sadly as they would profess their love for each other before the next scene took its place, usually with their breaking up.

Hermione learned that after her mother left Hogwarts, she was always sad. One night, finally, when she was asleep, her father came in and subjected her to the Cruciatus Curse repeatedly. It was a huge fortune indeed, that Hermione wasn't killed when she was left to die on her bed. When Meryll Snape found out, she had taken her daughter to a muggle hospital where she waited for her to recover. Unbeknownst to her, she and Stephen were betrayed, and she was held in captivity while Stephen finished up their business before they were both sent to Azkaban. She had told her daughter all this when she had visited the hospital for the last time.

School was to start the following day, and the first thing Hermione was going to do was talk to Sirius. She had meant to last week at Diagon Alley, but was never left alone with him. She didn't want Ron or Harry to find out just yet.

Meanwhile, Hermione learnt that Harry and Ginny were steady, and they joked about Hermione and Ron following suit soon since Ron needed his attention diverted from seeing Harry and Ginny snogging, and Hermione could easily distract him, if not with kisses, then with shouts. Harry soundly earned a hard whack on the head by Hermione and a punch on the arm by Ron.

Hermione smiled at the challenge issued the minute after. Harry had dared both Ron and Hermione to go on a date and a ball. Unwilling to be called a wussy, Ron and a secretly elated Hermione rose to the challenge. They made plans to go to Hogsmeade together on the first weekend that they were allowed out, and they decided to go to the Winter Ball held during winter break.

Hermione had told them about her faery transformation, and they were incredulous. When she transformed for them in private, they finally believed her. Harry was happy for her, while, Ron, despaired at his animagus form. It seems that being a bull was an insult to his intelligence.

The last thought that crossed Hermione's mind before going to sleep was, _Could Sirius Black be my father?_

End Chapter 2: Faery and Dream

**A/N: That's for waiting diligently for this chapter. I had originally cut this into two chapters, but decided against it. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. **

**PS, just to let you know, Mercy aka Helen Granger, is about 3 years younger than the Mauraders and Severus Snape, as you could probably deduce is her brother. You will learn more about the incriminating picture of Sirius and my OC, Shantal, later.**

**Love,**

**~Cera~**


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